The Horrors We Hide
by BecauseImBatman108
Summary: Richard wasn't adopted by Bruce Wayne the multi-billionaire but instead disappears from juvie without a trace. No one knew what happened to the 8 yr old until 5 yrs later when a young man who goes by the name of Renegade shows up out of the blue and attacks Batman. A series of events leads him to joining the team, leaving one unanswered question, will he befriend or betray them?
1. An Introduction Of Sorts

**The Horrors We Hide**

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 **Warning: Self harm, panic attack.**

 **Hey, guys! This is going to be my first continuous story so please don't be too harsh!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

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 **Chapter 1: An Introduction Of Sorts**

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When I first woke up in that crate all I knew was that it was dark. It was dark and cold and I was scared.

I had no idea where I was. No idea how I'd gotten there or what had happened over the past several months. No idea where I was going or if I was even alive but the thing that terrified me the most was that I didn't know what I was. I was a boy who lived in the circus. I was a boy with a caring family. I was a boy who wasn't afraid of falling and I was a boy who dreamed of flying. I was human… Was…

One of the most terrifying things a person can go though is not recognizing who they are anymore and when I woke up in that crate realizing that I was some sort of mutant I was horrified. A human isn't supposed to have wings, nor are they supposed to have a tail or cat like ears. Their teeth aren't supposed to be those of a dog's. It is not natural. It's not human.

I didn't want to be in that crate, to be scared of my own body and to be a freak of nature. I didn't want to be real. I wanted to feel safe but more than that I wanted my mom. I wanted to be in her arms again, for her to stroke my hair and tell me everything was going to be alright, to see her one last time if only for a moment… I just wanted my mom but I couldn't have her. I was in that crate, I was terrified out of my mind, I wasn't dreaming and I sure as hell didn't feel safe.

I remember how my breath came in short ragged gasps and how hard it was to breathe. I remember feeling like the crate was closing in on me as I involuntarily flapped my wings against the sides of the box in a panic. I remember clawing at the wood and then at my ears trying to tear them off and the coppery smell it brought with it. I remember attempting to yank my tail off and the horrible pain it caused. I remember the cries that escaped from my lips. I remember the crate jolting as if it had been kicked and hearing a muffled, "Shut up!" I remember biting my tongue and the taste of blood. I remember the feeling of a warm liquid trailing its way down my face. I remember the woozy feeling that came over me as my vision began to darken. And the last thing I remember before I completely lost consciousness was repeatedly whispering to myself, "Don't be afraid."

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It has been five years since then. Five years since I was made into a monster. Four years since I became known as Renegade. Three years since I stopped talking. Two years since I killed a man for the first time. And one year since I lost all hope.

My name is Richard John Grayson and this is my story.

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 **WAIT! EVERYONE PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE!**

 **I need reviews! If you guys want me to continue writing this all you have to say is "Please continue" and I will!**

 **Also any helpful criticism is welcome! Thank you! Love you all!- BecauseImBatman108**


	2. The Team Who Fought And The Boy Who Wat-

**The Horrors We Hide**

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 **Warning: Violence, suicidal thoughts, abuse, swearing.**

 **Hello everyone! I haven't updated in forever so I'm sorry for that but I'm starting to write again and more chapters will be posted sometime relatively soon. Hopefully you guys will like it. Thank you for all the comments!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.**

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 **Chapter 2: The Team Who Fought And The Boy Who Watched**

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When I first joined the team I was never happy. I didn't get along well with the other members and I couldn't bring myself to trust them. It made our teamwork sloppy and our missions even more so but the worst thing it did was pit us against each other. We saw one another as the enemy and couldn't communicate well enough to set our differences aside. You could hardly call it a team and the League was beginning to question creating it in the first place but I'm getting ahead of myself. It's a good story so let me tell it right.

It all started with a Happy Harbor power plant, an android who went by the name of Mr. Twister and a riffraff group of wannabe heroes.

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 **Happy Harbor, July 18, 18:23**

The screams of terrified civilians were muffled out by the roaring winds of an android made tornado. Cars, rubble and people were picked up and tossed aside much like the unwanted toys in a child's toy box. The damage it produced was rather impressive. It wouldn't be long until it drew the attention of both the League and it's new team of lackeys and _that_ was what I was there for.

Once the Light had learned of the attack on Cadmus and the escape of the Superboy I had been sent to gather as much information on them as soon possible.

With the skies clear and it being common knowledge that tornadoes are an extremely rare sight in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island it was sure to warrant a fast League response and if my hypothesis was right their lackeys would be the ones to investigate. The bait had been planted, now all I had to do was wait.

At that time I was tired and I could feel the bags under my eyes, I hadn't slept in days. It didn't bother me too much though considering it wasn't all that of an unnatural occurrence in my line of work, although it did make my thought process and reaction times a bit sluggish. One thing I knew was that if I didn't get a handle on my exhaustion and quickly it would surely cost me.

I focused on my surroundings to distract myself from the nagging weariness that threatened to overwhelm me and soon enough my theory was proven correct. A ripple appeared in the sky. It could have easily been mistaken for a trick of the light but I knew a cloaked ship when I saw one.

I lifted a finger up to my sunglasses and pressed a button on the side of the frame. A red dot appeared in the top right corner of the one of the lenses to let me know that the small camera embedded in my shades had started filming.

It being too windy to fly, I grappled down from my perch upon the roof of the power plant as the tornado sucked the ship into its depths, spat it back out and continued on it's path of destruction. My feet hit the ground as the ship, it's cloaking system now offline, pulled a u-turn and brought itself to a stop a solid ten feet above the ground. It then proceeded to fly off out of the tornado's reach, leaving four teenagers in it's wake. Four… They added a new member. A martian by the looks of it. That was fast.

It was time to put my plan in action. Pulling the hood of my jacket up to cover my ears, I quickened my breathing and widened my eyes, assuming the role of a panicked civilian. I ran towards the group of heroes, weaving in between cars and dodging around a few terrified locals.

Upon approaching them Kid Flash ran off at superhuman speed in the direction of the power plant.

"Kid Flash! Wait!" Hand outstretched, Aqualad called after him but he was already gone. As I brushed past the remaining three I planted a bug on Aqualad's shoulder and another one the Superboy's back just before the martian grabbed my arm, I lurched backwards. _Crap! Had she seen me do it?_

"Are you hurt?" She asked, the concern lacing her voice was genuine but her eyes were filled with mistrust almost as if she knew my true intentions. "Do you need help?" Something about her made me feel weird. I didn't like it. At least she seemed oblivious to the tiny metal spheres latched onto her teammates bodies. Keeping my head down I tugged my arm out of her grasp and continued to run off towards the thicket of trees behind them.

My heart was beating quickly, I looked back in time to notice them disappear into the building as the windows shattered and blew outwards. I glanced down at the holographic computer on my wrist, tapped the record button and placed a com in my ear.

 _"Who's your new friend?"_ Came a voice which I recognized to be the Superboy's.

 _"Never told me! I don't think he wants to play!"_ The words were fast spoken and it was slightly difficult to distinguish one from the other. I could only assume it was Kid Flash.

 _"My apologies. You may address me as Mr. Twister."_ The robotic voice introduced itself followed by a swoosh of air, two loud thumps and then a grunt.

The sounds of battle continued and I decided to go back onto the roof and try to get a better view for when the fight would be taken outdoors as planned. I was originally thinking of watching the fight through the windows until then but when I saw that the glass had been shattered and blown outwards I had to rethink my original plan. Those winds had to be pretty damn strong to do something like that. There were a lot of things that could have gone wrong if I stuck with plan-A so to make a long story short I decided to follow my gut and choose plan-B instead.

The tornado was further away now, speeding off in the direction of the town, leaving the wind outside of the building calm enough for me to fly. I unfurled my wings and I slid them through of the slits that I had previously cut into the back of my jacket. It was still a bit windy which made it slightly difficult to fly but I still got back to the power plant without any major complications. Landing on the roof with a soft thud, I crouched, trying to make myself smaller. I saw that Kid Flash had been thrown outside and rendered useless for the moment as he crashed into a tree branch, skidded across the ground a few yards and then came to a sudden halt.

The sounds of battle died down and a voice spoke up, _"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero. I was not, however, expecting children."_

 _"We are not children!"_ The Superboy roared into my ear which made me try to shy away slightly at the near deafening noise.

 _"Objectively, you are. Have you no adult supervision? I find your presence here quite disturbing."_ The sounds of battle started again and as quickly as they begun they came to a stop. I watched Mr. Twister fly out of the building as Kid Flash recovered and also noticed, he ran towards red android, somersaulting twice to slow himself down.

They had a brief discussion that I was unable to hear before Mr. Twister stuck his hands out in front of him, enveloping the red head in a small tornado which crashed into the side of the power plant and dissipated, creating a large dust cloud.

 _"I got you, Wally."_ A female voice spoke up as the dust cleared revealing all four teenagers. Kid Flash floated in the air for a second before falling to the dirt.

Wally... They seemed inexperienced, or rather more accurately put, the martian seemed inexperienced and her using names on the field would cost them.

 _"Whoa, thanks."_ The surprised response came.

 _"I would have thought you had all learned your limitations by now."_ The android taunted.

 _"What do you want!?"_ Aqualad shouted, walking forwards a few feet.

 _"Isn't it obvious? I'm waiting for a real hero."_ Mr. Twister continued to taunt them, trying to get under their skin. It seemed to be working.

 _"Read his mind, find a weakness."_ Aqualad again.

 _"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that."_ The martian warily said but it didn't appear that she thought it was a trick.

 _"That doesn't count with the bad guys!"_ Kid Flash yelled throwing his arms out dramatically.

 _"Nothing, I'm getting nothing..!"_ She paused after a moment, two fingers to her temple, she then proceeded to hit herself in the forehead. _"Hello, Megan! Mr. Twister is Red Tornado in disguise! He's inorganic, an android and how many androids do you know that can generate tornadoes?"_ Again with the names? If i didn't know any better I would have assumed that she wanted all of their secret identities found out.

 _"Red Tornado sent us here after he told us that we would soon be tested!"_ Aqualad exclaimed as if all the puzzle pieces were falling into place.

Red Tornado? Was he the one giving them their missions? And what was this about a test? They were making it way too easy for me and if they had this much time to talk why weren't they using it to attack Mr. Twister. I shifted from foot to foot. Superheroes talk to much.

 _"Speedy called it, we're a joke."_ Kid Flash had his back to me but it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was scowling. _"This game, so over."_

Aqualad turned around and marched over to Mr. Twister with Wally in toe. _"We know who you are!"_ He shouted, _"We know what this is. So let's end it."_ He yelled up at the android.

 _"Consider it ended."_ Mr. Twister became surrounded by storm clouds and the sky darkened. He lifted both of his hands, a tornado extending from each palm, both tornadoes intertwining, creating a figure eight as a strange almost egg shaped tornado formed in the center.

Wind whipped around making it a bit difficult to hear what they said next. Here's what I could make out, _"An impressive sh- will not indulge- we- engage!"_

Lightning crackled and the clouds above swirled in an almost hypnotic way. The team seemed to shrink back slightly.

 _"Uh, can-nado do that?"_

At this point I think that Mr. Twister said something but that was completely drowned out by the roaring winds. Lightning struck the ground, kicking up dirt and electrocuting the vigilantes, sending them flying several yards back.

A pop sounded in my earpiece followed by the dull sound of static. The bugs I had planted on the heroes were fried and rendered completely useless. Damn. It was going so well too. I guess I would have to gather information just by watching.

I had good hearing. Much better than a human's but with it being so windy I would have to get close to hear them which was something I couldn't do. It would risk them seeing me and since the martian had stopped me earlier they would likely recognize my face. It would be awfully suspicious if I showed up again.

I shivered. I had a lot at stake right now and not a lot of helpful information. If I didn't get something good and soon Deathstroke would not be pleased.

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 **Happy Harbor July 18, 22:15**

 _Fuck! I messed up! This is bad! This is really bad! I am so fucking dead!_

Panic clutched at my chest and set my veins on fire. I made such a rookie mistake that I literally could not believe myself. I wanted to _tear_ my own skin off I was so horrified.

I had been hiding in the bushes in front of an old Victorian building when Aqualad had been thrown into it causing the wall to break and chunks of house to crash into my head. It must have knocked me unconscious because the next thing I remembered was waking up partially buried in a pile rubble with a pounding headache and sore ribs.

Bile rose in my throat just thinking of what Deathstroke would do to me when he found out that both the video feed and possibly the audio feed were completely unsalvageable. My sunglasses were completely destroyed and my hands were nearly crushed under the weight of the rubble. I was pretty sure I had broken a bone or two in my palm. That meant that my gloves were in pretty rough shape and if I couldn't fix them all of my work here would have been for nothing.

The rubble weighed a lot and if I had been just a few inches to the right I likely would have died. Honestly, it was a miracle that I survived or possibly a curse, depending on whether I could fix the damned glove or not.

I knew that even if I could repair it Deathstroke would still be mad. There was no video feed and I had gotten myself knocked out when I should have been able to dodge out of the way if it hadn't been for my sluggish reactions. Plus I should've been back hours ago. He always got angry when I took longer than expected.

The more I thought about it the more nervous I grew. He was going to beat me, if not beat me-kill me, if not kill me, he was probably going to throw me into the… I shook my head, my breath catching in my throat. I didn't want to think about that even if it was a very real possibility. Hell, he would probably beat me to death and then hang my dead body in there.

I straightened my aching back and got to work. Determination replaced my fear but after a good hour or so of struggling to repair the damaged glove my heart sank. I couldn't do it. I couldn't salvage the glove and with that my fear returned.

 _This is it. My last day among the living._ I thought to myself but at the same time I couldn't help but wonder if that was such a bad thing.

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 **Star City, July 19, 02:21**

"A few measly names!? You were gone for nine hours and all you got were _a few measly names?_ " Deathstroke advanced on me, fury seeping out from every pore on his body. He held the promise of pain in his voice and by way he stood towering over me, every muscle in his body pulled taut I could tell it was a promise he would make well of. "And really, _apprentice_ , I'm surprised that you had the gall to come back here without any useful information after being knocked out like some amateur. Did I train you to be an _amateur!?_ " He spat out the last part like the word disgusted him. His one eye glared at me and I knew that he would show me no mercy.

I shook my head, taking a step back, trying to deny his accusations. I learned much more than a couple of names. Just by watching them I could tell that they weren't used to working together. Their team was new. Superboy has anger issues, he gets sloppy when he's angry but he is also the strongest of the bunch, taking him down will prove to be a challenge. The martian, Megan, she's a rookie, quite naive but she's also the one you'd want to take out first, she can't use her telepathy to alert the rest of the team if she isn't conscious. Kid Flash, true to the speedster name, is impatient and impulsive, he can't sit still and is likely to often place himself in unnecessary danger making him an easier target, well, if you can catch him first. Aqualad, now he is the leader, calm, collected and not a bad fighter either. He'd be the second one you'd take out, without him there is no one there to even out the chaos that the other members bring. But Deathstroke already knew all that. It was all in the report. There was no negotiating about it and there was no way out. I stopped backing up and lowered my head. Better to take the punishment now than to prolong it and make it worse by angering him even further.

Fear gripped at my heart. I could feel Deathstroke's cruel gaze as it bore into me, a fist collided with my jaw and another with my stomach as a foot snaked behind my ankles. I stumbled backwards and tripped over it falling flat on my ass. My arms flew up doing their best to shield my face from any further attack. A foot crashed into my chest and my skull cracked against the tile, pinning my wings uncomfortably between my back and the floor. The same foot slammed into stomach over and over and over again until suddenly it stopped.

" _Stand up._ " He hissed and I struggled to my feet as quickly as possible, trying futilely to catch my breath. "Next time you disappoint me it's your uncle who is going to pay." He snarled, grabbing the collar of my shirt. The words played over and over in my head. I was hardly able to concentrate on what he said next as disdain filled his voice and seven words I had been expecting but dreading to hear him say slipped past his lips, "Throw him in the meat locker, boys." Two men came up behind me, each grabbing one of my forearms. I stared blankly at my boots, feeling lifeless. "Maybe a night in there will get you motivated enough to actually complete your missions without half assing them. I expect better of you, apprentice." Were his last words before the door closed behind me and fear hardened in my gut. I couldn't afford to disappoint him again. I was hardly aware of what was happening or where I was headed when his words truly sunk in. In a split second dread slammed down onto me like a ton of bricks and I forgot all my other worries.

 _I was going to the meat locker._

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When I first joined the team I was never happy. I didn't get along well with the other members and I couldn't bring myself to trust them. Before I joined the team however, I had no hope. I was alive but I wasn't living. I survived each day wishing that I hadn't.

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 **Ok everyone! Let me know what you think! Any constructive criticism is always encouraged! Love you all!- BecauseImBatman108**


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